Dutch Republic. 16th to 17th century.

* Mercantilist Patronage:
 1) No authoritative ruler
 2) Calvinst concern for the potential misuse of religious art
 3) New prosperity
 4) Dutch Baroque Art: genre scenes, landscapes, portraits, still lifes. (Appealing to the middle class)

* Calling of Saint Matthew (Oils on canvas. 1621)
1) By Hendrick Ter Brugghen
2) One of the rare religious scenes
3) The moment of the event & the naturalistic presentation: Caravaggio's influence.
4) Colorful palette of soft tints: Italian influence
5) Figues compressed into a small but well-lit space: contrary to Caravaggio's spacious setting.

* Archers of St.Hadrian (1633, Oils on canvas)
1) By Frans Hals
2) Specialized in protraiture
3) Figures looking more relaxed than traditional formulatic ones.
4) Casualness, imediacy, intimacy.
5) Individuality of the sitters.
6) Light and fleeting touch of Frans' brush: instanteously created facial expressions.

          Rembrandt

* Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp (1632. Oils on canvas)
1) Clustering figures. Not evenly spreading subjects.
2) The foreshortened corpse: activate the space by disrrupting the strict horizental & planar orientation in normal portraitures.
3) Various poses and facial expressions.

* Night Watch (Oils on canvas. 1642)
1) Civic-guard group's commission.
2) For the Musketeer's Hall in Amsterdam.
3) Portraying figures in actions rather than merely gathered people.
4) Presenting the 3 most important stages of using a musket: load, fire, reload.

Hallmarks of Rembrandt:
1) Blending lights and shades
2) Closer to reality cause eyes perceive light and dark not as static but as subtly changing.
3) Approaching lighting differences optically instead of conceptually, the opposite of Renaissance painters.
4) Manipulation of light and shadow controls the mood. Variation of light and shade -> Emotional differences.

* Self-Portrait (1659. Oil on canvas)
1) Psychology of light. Reconciling light and dark.
2) Emotional tones heard only in silence.
3) Revealing the human soul: expressive face, controlled use of light, non-specific setting.
4) Diginity and strength in himself.
5) Circles: Legendary sign of artistic virtuosity.
6) Viwer's attention drawn to his face.

* View of Haarlem from the Dunes at Overseen  (1670. Oils on canvas)
1) By Jacob Van Ruisdael
2) Saint Bavo Church and Windmills in the background (Land reclamation effort)
3) Bleached foreground ( recording homeland and citizens)
4) Low horizen line. Broad sky.
5) Sun lights the land only in patches.
6) Quite serenity that's almost spiritual.

* The Letter (1666. Oils on canvas)
1) By Jan Vermeer
2) Quitely opulent interiors of middle-class households with people engaging in household tasks.
3) Primarily women.
4) Highly idealized values of Dutch burghers.
5) Lute: Dutch traditional symbol of love.
6) Ship on a calm sea: love requited.
7)  Picture surface = Glass panel. Constructed illusion.
8) Camera obscura
9) Colors true to the optical facts. Pioneer of color science.
10) Circle of confusion. Blurred images at closer look.

* Vanitas Still Life (1630s. Oil on panel)
1) By Pieter Claesz
2) Still life
3) Celebrating material posessions.
4) Vanitas painting
5) Memento mori (Skull and timepiece)
6) Element of time
7) Reflection of self-portrait: immortalize himself. (challenge)